


The Spectrum Of Genius

by DarlingCera



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: FBI, M/M, Romance, criminal minds - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-24
Updated: 2012-11-28
Packaged: 2017-11-19 09:05:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/571579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarlingCera/pseuds/DarlingCera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new profiler joins the team, he's almost as bright as Spencer and Reid would like him a lot if he didn't hate him so much. A few cases , a late night conversation and a road trip might just change that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Criminal Minds or anything except Ryan. Repost/Rewrite of my first CM fic from FF.Net.

The morning was bitter and cold, as mornings often are. Dr. Spencer Reid kept his frail hands buried deep within the pockets of his pea coat, his purple scarf nearly choking him. He reluctantly pulled a hand out to open the frozen handle of the coffee shop door. The scent of coffee beans filled him with a slight rush as he anticipated getting this morning's caffeine and carbohydrate fix. He entered the space, painted with lush hues of browns and greens, the hanging light fixtures gave a soft glow and pot lights illuminated the prints on the wall. A jazz song began on the radio as Reid approached the counter.

The early morning barista was exactly the picture of an art student working her way through college. She was complete with dyed hair, a nose ring and a few tattoos. "How can I help you" She asked with a smile. "She looks like a teenage delinquent but she might actually be a nice person. Regardless..She looks ridiculous" Spencer thought "Yeah. I'll have a large black coffee and an everything bagel with crème cheese" he said to her. "Sure. That will be six dollars." She smiled at him again, accepting a five and a one from the young doctor, who continued to stand at the counter waiting for his breakfast. "When did I become so judgmental?" he thought "I've got to quit that" The teenage delinquent girl returned with Reid's bagel and coffee. He walked out to the parking lot down the street and into his car. Placing the coffee in the cup holder after tossing yesterday's coffee onto the floor of the passenger's side and placing his bagel on the seat next to him Reid started the car.

A memory of having his neighbor teaching him to drive flashed through his head. His dad was gone by the time Spencer was old enough to drive, and his mother refused to drive. It was too much for her. It made her too nervous. She was just plain too tired.

He picked up his bagel and took a bite at the next red light. It was about a half an hour drive to the BAU on a good day. Today was not a good day. A wreck had held up traffic that morning. "What ever." Reid thought "More time to enjoy my bagel." Reid went between long periods of eating almost nothing and surviving solely on caffeine and mints (to spare everyone around from his coffee breath) and eating everything he could get his hands on. Traffic began to move steadily as Spencer took a final swig on his coffee and crumpled up the bagel wrapper. He still wouldn't be late; he always left way too early. When the flow of traffic eased up and Spencer made it to the BAU he parked his old car and re-secured his scarf. Again burying his hands in his pockets, he walked from the parking lot toward the main building. He slid his ID through the scanner on the door, which clocked him in and unlocked the main entrance and entered the warm building. He was undoubtedly cranky this morning and he was prepared to scream if they had to go out of town for another two week long case.

Hotch called everyone into the meeting room. "Shit…Here we go again. More bodies more unsubs more sharing hotel rooms with Gideon who makes a point of snoring and farting as loudly as he can in his sleep" Reid thought as he sat down in the fancy ergonomic desk chairs. Hotch entered the room along with Morgan and Gideon. Each was carrying a large box. "Well everyone, I have good news and bad news." Hotch began "The good news is we get to take this week off from catching bad guys however, we also get to spend this week doing paper work." Ah paper work, sweet, sweet paper work" thought Reid " I can live with that" Reid took a stack of case files and positioned himself at his desk to bury himself in files. He was organizing and filling in blank spaces in the cases.

Several hours past and Spencer had worked through his lunch break. "Reid, time to go home, unless you feel like going out with me and everyone else" Morgan suggested. "nah I'll head home" Spencer replied, picking up his messenger bag and exiting the building with the rest of the crowd. He split off from them to head to his car.

When he arrived home, the place was dead silent. Reid couldn't be bothered with dinner and sat down at his desk to write his mother a letter. Nothing came to mind. Everything was the same as it had always been with him. Leaving on cases and coming home to do nothing of great importance, going to the same coffee shop all of the time, never trying anything new. He sighed and set his pen down. "Alright, alright, I'll go to sleep" he told his brain. He knew he wouldn't be sleeping that well , all of the caffeine would doubtless keep him awake or at the very least interrupt his sleep. Before lying in his bed for the night, he glanced over at the mirror. His hair was disheveled and he was once again getting stubble. Reid decided to ignore this and peeled back the covers of his bed. It was always so cold he would think as he turned on his electric blanket.

The alarm was the worst sound ever. On the rare nights when he actually got more than a few hours sleep, Spencer appreciated the wakeup call less than usual. He began to drag himself out of bed and into the shower, wishing that it woke him up instead of making him want to fall asleep again. Reid sighed as he got out of the shower and approached the sink where he could get rid of that facial hair he wished he didn't grow so often.

SSA Aaron Hotchner was sipping his morning coffee, black, just how he liked it, when he was called into Strauss's office.

"Good morning Aaron." She said. Her voice was especially infuriating this early in the morning. "Good morning Erin." He sighed. He hated her. "In what way has she decided to try and ruin my career today?" He thought. "Well I've called you in here because we have a new member for your team." She said, setting down a file in front of Hotch. He picked up the file and looked at the photograph it contained. "When does he start?" He asked. "In a few hours, I called you in early to tell you." "How long have you known?" "Since about a week ago. "And you're calling me in now to tell me about it?" Hotch sighed, his dark eyes rolling. "Yes Hotchner, now go do your job. Everyone else should be arriving at about nine. You're dismissed, Aaron" She said, dismissing him.

"Something about her…it just ruins my day whatever it is." Hotch thought, heading over to his office. Situating himself in his comfortable leather chair, Hotch opened the employee file and tried to enjoy the rest of his coffee while he waited for this person to show up. A fairly spotless record, a little hint of juvenile delinquency here and there, a high IQ, though not quite as high as Reid's. Very few people could be that smart. No spouse or children, a degree in psychology and sociology all on top of a head of flaming red hair.

He arrived at eight forty-five. 

"SSA Hotchner?" He asked. He was young, probably not much older than Reid, tall with Hazel eyes and a happy, but slightly cocky smile. "Dr. Ryan Stanson?" Hotch asked. "Yes, sir." Ryan replied, flashing Hotch a smile that Hotch couldn't trust, it was the smile of an arrogant bastard, and if there was one thing in this world Aaron hated more than Strauss it was arrogant bastards.

"I'll show you to your desk" Hotch said, walking out his office door and down into the general workspace "Everyone else should be arriving any minute now" He lead Ryan to the desk next to Reid's , "You'll be working closely with the whole team, always have a bag packed in case we have to leave for a case, More than likely you'll be spending a lot of time around Dr. Reid,since you two probably have a lot in common...He's also got a particularly high IQ... Now let me take you over to Garcia's office." Hotch lead Ryan away again. 

"Garcia? I really hope she isn't as bad as Strauss…that woman was the devil." Ryan thought as they approached a door labeled "Penelope Garcia, Tech Specialist" The room inside was dark except for the glowing lights coming from computer screens. Once is eyes adjusted he noticed the frills, the little cutesy things scattered about, the pink pens with plumes of feathers sitting on the top, and seated in the center of all this was a blonde girl, clad in all pink who somewhat resembled a cupcake, her flouncy pink blouse being the frosting and the many jeweled clips in her hair resembling rainbow sprinkles. "Penelope, I'd like you to meet Dr. Ryan Stanson, the newest member of our team" "Oh I know everything about you already. I heard we were getting a new guy. Strauss let me do the background check, because she knew I'd go looking anyways… Anyways, My name is Penelope, or you can call me goddess of everything technological and adorable…or penny" "Garcia" Hotch interrupted. "I'm always here if you need anything. Have an awesome first day" Garcia giggled as they left her office .

Hotch lead Ryan back to his desk, where Ryan set down his messenger bag.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reid gets a closer look.

Chapter 2  
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters/places/things from Criminal Minds. The only thing I own is Dr. Ryan Stanson.  
Spencer sleepily stumbled into the office, carrying his usual paper coffee cup. On the way here he had calculated how much money he would save every year if he didn't go get coffee every morning, and instead choosing to buy a fifty dollar or so coffee maker which would pay itself off in a matter of weeks. But there was always the cost of coffee grounds or beans and if he got beans, he would need a grinder. The costs still didn't outweigh the benefits, and Reid decided to use that coffee maker his aunt had mailed him a while back as a birthday gift as soon as he purchased a bag of coffee beans and a small grinder. He sloughed off his messenger bag and flopped down in his chair to suck up the rest of this morning's brew. He was half way through a complete spin in his chair when he stopped suddenly. "Why is there stuff on the empty desk?" He thought "…This can only mean one thing…"  
Spencer stared at the things on the desk, trying to build an idea of who would own it. There was a black fabric messenger bag, much like one a college student would have, a laptop covered in stickers obviously acquired from various concert events and other such adventures, a blazer with the elbow patches, much like the ones Reid himself liked and a cup of coffee from the same place that Reid liked to get his own coffee every morning. "I wonder how long this guy has been walking around going to my coffee place that not a whole lot of people know about. " Reid contemplated how he could have possibly seen this guy before and never knew it. He could have been in line right behind or ahead of Reid and but Spencer had been so caught up in himself that he didn't even take note of him.  
Reid got up to throw out his empty coffee container, thinking about the environmental impact all of these little foam cups had, Styrofoam is non -biodegradable, after all. and making the decision to purchase a reusable travel mug along with the coffee grinder and beans.  
However, when he returned all of his mysteries where solved. There, sitting at the desk with the messenger bag and the laptop and the blazer, with the elbow patches, sat "The new guy". Reid turned toward his own desk and began sifting through files, but he needed to get a good look at this guy, he needed to gather all of the information he could without staring. The issue was resolved when Hotch tapped him on the shoulder "Reid, this is Dr. Ryan Stanson, Dr. Stanson, this is Dr. Spencer Reid." Ryan smiled at Reid. "H…hey…" Reid stammered, feeling suddenly unsure of himself. “Hi…” Ryan replied, awkwardly shaking Reid’s hand. Spencer knew exactly where he was going as soon as he got a free moment.  
When that free moment finally came in the form of Reid's lunch break he made a bee line for Garcia's office. "What can you tell me about him?" He asked shutting the door behind him.  
"Well I can tell you right off the bat that he's your replacement." Garcia said, managing to keep a straight face.  
. "WHAT?" Reid exclaimed, a horrified look playing on his face  
Penelope groaned"Spencer…Calm down, you know you're indispensible…"She sighed, with emphasis on the "Spence" in "Indispensible" "  
Real cute..Indispensible…Now in all seriousness, what can you tell me about him?" He asked, getting closer to Penelope's computer screens.  
"What? Do you have a crush or something? Give me a second to pull up his files" She giggled, turning to her many monitors.  
"Well…" She began, Dr. Ryan Gray Stanson, gosh that's a sexy middle name was born on November the tenth twenty-five years ago making him only slightly older than yourself. He skipped second, fourth and seventh grade and graduated from UC Berkley when he was twenty, he has two degrees in Psychology and sociology and you would never be able to tell by the looks of him that he was some kind of genius. He plays the guitar and had a band when he lived in California. He moved out here about a month ago. Dr. Stanson is approximately six feet tall with natural ginger hair and brown eyes. Do you need anything else?" She asked, smiling her precious smile.  
"You can tell he plays guitar from his files? Well I guess if you used credit card history and purchase records." Read mused.  
"Well I didn't have to do that because he plays the same online games as I do and we've been chatting since his lunch break started." Garcia replied.  
"He's gorgeous isn't he?" She giggled. I haven't really looked at him long enough to really make any commentary on that…" Spencer muttered. He did need to go get a good look at him, an awkward handshake while both of them kept their eyes downcast was not a “good look”  
When he returned to his desk, Ryan was sitting on his computer, half a sandwich which oozed in gooey brown Nutella, dangling from his left hand as he clicked the mouse with his right. He was playing some kind of computer game on his lunch break, probably talking to Garcia.  
"How's it going?" Ryan asked, not looking up from his game. "Um… "Reid replied.  
"Aces." Ryan said, with his mouth full of his sandwich. It looked like it was just Nutella shoved between two pieces of bread and nothing else  
“Sweet tooth…” Reid thought. Maybe there was some common ground here.  
. Reid sat down at his desk and looked over at Ryan. He certainly wasn’t ugly. He scooted a little closer, hoping Ryan wouldn't notice. There where little marks on his ear, there were also two of those little marks on Ryan's lower lip. "No…those aren't…piercings…are they?" He thought. He had never found them particularly attractive but he had never had any discriminatory feelings towards them. "What?" Ryan asked looking up from his game eyes wide, confused and staring Spencer directly in the eyes. "Nothing" Reid defensively murmured as he Got up to go to the break room for coffee, which would be his lunch today as it usually was.  
The coffee pot was empty and Spencer had to make more coffee. “Oh well…at least it will be fresh.” He thought, pouring water into the percolator.  
"What's up with that new guy?" Morgan asked.  
"I don't know…he’s kind of standoffish. Garcia seems to be enthralled with him" Reid answered, rolling his eyes.  
"Really? He hasn't been too weird to me and everyone else. I can totally see why Garcia likes him, he’s sitting over there playing video games during his lunch hour."Morgan said, standing in the door way to the break room with a taco from the stand down the road in one hand as he leaned his muscular arm against the door frame  
"You guys talking about New Guy?" Elle said, coming up behind them. "I don't know he doesn't seem too bad. I think Penelope is rather smitten."  
"Well if anything goes down between those two, he'd better not hurt her or he'll be getting a swift kick to the ass." Morgan said, defending his queen's honor.  
"I don't know, He kind of sets off my gaydar." Elle said, sticking her fork into her salad. "Really?" Morgan answered. "Well I guess he might be… he dresses a lot like Reid"  
Reid made a sour face"Oh that's really funny" Reid sighed, glaring at Morgan over his glasses as he sipped his sugar loaded coffee. Reid looked over at Ryan from across the room, his blazer was off and he was wearing a green sweater vest, a white shirt beneath it with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “Yeah…he sort of does.” Spencer thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team goes on their first case with Ryan, Reid and Ryan play the question game.

Chapter 3  
A few weeks pass by and on a Monday morning, Reid walked into the break room to refill his newly-purchased reusable coffee mug in the break room when a little spilled onto the counter.   
  
“Son of a bitch…”He sighed and reached up to the cabinet and in front of the container of napkins was a large jar of Nutella and a loaf of bread, each labeled "Ryan" "wow, he really gets protective over that stuff…" Reid thought, pushing Ryan's lunch for the next week or so out of the way to grab his napkins.

The coffee on the counter was beginning to drip on the floor. "Shit" Spencer thought, swiftly grabbing napkins and trying to get the coffee on the counter with his left hand and the coffee dripping down the lower cabinets onto the floor with his right. He moved his left hand a little too far and the travel mug came tumbling down, sending lukewarm coffee down onto the floor and into Reid's hair. A quiet, snarky laugh came from behind him. The laugh was unfamiliar to him, so it could have come from only one person. Ryan paraded through the break room, grabbed a cup of coffee, made himself a Nutella sandwich and exited, without even stopping to help Reid.

Hotch called everyone into the meeting room, When Reid arrived Garcia was warming up the projector, standing on the table in her sky-high heels, fumbling with the projector’s wires and buttons so she could hook it up to her laptop.

“How do you even get up there? How do you even walk?” Reid asked.

“Magic, my darling.” She said, coming down from the table and turning on her computer. 

"So how's your new best friend?" Reid said

. "Who, Ryan?" Garcia replied "Well he’s certainly an interesting person. He’s a level fifty troll-hunter" She mused.

"Well… That must make him a major asset to this team" Read grumbled, raising an eyebrow as he recalled Ryan coming into the break room and stepping through the coffee on the floor and leaving coffee- flavored foot prints. 

Reid could swear that he had done it on purpose. Ryan sauntered into the meeting room. "Smells like coffee" He chuckled looking at Reid.

Spencer was in shock at what an asshole this guy was. If that handshake and awkward moment during yesterday’s lunch break were anything to go on, Reid would have assumed he was shy, maybe introverted. But he’d been proven wrong. 

Gideon entered, followed by Hotch and Morgan while Elle was close behind.

"Alright little love-nuggets, I've got your next assignment. Three bodies were found just outside of a suburb about three hours away so you won't be going far and we get to save a little on jet fuel." Garcia giggled, averting her eyes from the decayed bodies on the projector screen.

I'm sending copies of the files to all of your e-mails right….now. I also have a tree-murdering hard copy for Dr. Luddite over here." She tossed a manila folder at Reid, It skidded across the table and fell into his lap. He opened it to graphic pictures of three bodies, two female one male. 

Reid began scanning over the coroner's reports, the victims where strangled and stabbed post-mortem, the stabbing being a sign of rage.  
"Well everyone, grab your go bags, we leave in an hour" Hotch said, dismissing his team

"I've already made hotel arrangements. "Garcia called as everyone filed groggily out the door. Reid sighed, shoving the folder in his messenger bag. 

The re grouped in the parking garage, everyone piling into two SUVs and heading out of town. It was a long car ride, Ryan and Reid occupied the back while Morgan drove and Elle took shotgun.. Hotch , Gideon and JJ took the other vehicle. The two up front started out discussing the case, then it trailed off into chatter over little things, food, movies, dates. The pair in the back stayed quiet, Ryan occasionally putting a comment into Morgan and Elle’s conversations

When everyone arrived to check in , Reid got out of the car and stretched his long legs in the parking lot.  
JJ distributed room keys after check in.

. Gideon got his own room (paid for separately) Hotch and Morgan shared, while JJ and Elle shared.  
"Looks like you're stuck with Ryan" Morgan chuckled handing Spencer a key-card to his room.  
"It would appear that way" He grumbled turning around and walking down the hall way to the elevator, the ginger trailing behind him after taking the little plastic card from JJ.  
Spencer held the elevator open, not wanting to be an ass, he wasn’t about to stoop to Ryan’s level.  
“Thanks.” Ryan said as he entered the elevator.  
“No problem.” Reid replied.

-  
They rode in silence until they hit the fourth floor. The door opened on each floor up, letting vacationers board. Reid got out first and heading down the cold hallway to their room.  
Reid settled down in a chair with a thick novel. Ryan sat down on the bed and opened his lap top, getting into the hotel’s wifi and logging onto his gaming profile

An hour passed quietly. The silence was uncomfortable for Reid, it would have been fine with anyone else. Ryan finally broke the silence.

"That Penelope is a badass" Ryan chuckled, as he battled a black knight, a character clad in all pink stabbing at the same enemy as he was.

"Do you like her?" Reid asked.  
"What do you mean like her? Like…'Like her'" Ryan asked.  
"Yeah…Like her, like her" Reid replied, sounding like a dumb school boy.  
. "Nah." Ryan said "Do you?"  
"Not like that. " Reid answered, looking down at his shoes.

"It's nice to have someone to just hang out with here. I haven't really had someone like that since I moved out to Quantico."  
For a moment Reid felt bad for Ryan. He quickly remembered however, what an asshole Ryan was

"Garcia said you skipped a few grades. So ,you where the youngest in your group of friends in high school?" Reid asked.  
"Yeah but I didn't tell anyone that, they all just thought I was scrawny, not graduating high school when I should have been a freshman. If they had known that, they all probably would have kicked my ass." Ryan chuckled.

. "I got picked on a lot in high school; I graduated when I was twelve." Spencer replied, remembering bruises and beat-downs.  
"One time I was tied naked to a goal post on the soccer field. It was almost midnight when someone finally saw me and got me out. My mother didn't even notice that I hadn't come home from school."

"Busy mom?" Ryan asked. "Paranoid schizophrenic" Reid replied.  
"My mom is dead but my parents got divorced right before I was born. “  
Spencer was at a slight loss for words.

"we don't have to do anything until tomorrow…" Ryan said, closing his laptop. "How about we play the question game?" He suggested  
"Umm… is this that thing where you ask one question, I ask answer then ask you a question, with the questions gradually gaining depth and intensity as the game continues?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, that one, I'll go first. When is your birthday?" Ryan began

"October ninth. What's your favorite color?"Reid replied

"Orange. Can you play any instruments?"

"Makes sense...ginger." Reid teased. "I can sort of play piano. It's not something I ever got too into."

"Where are you from"

"Las Vegas. Last concert you attended?"

"The Offspring, You?"

"Quantico Symphony Orchestra, How about favorite food" Reid was almost smiling now, finding the rapid exchange of questions to be stimulating.  
"I like foreign food but I've also got a thing for the usual American fast food shit, how old where you when you got your first kiss?"  
“Five. Neighbor’s daughter wanted to play house, and I was her baby.” He chuckled "Favorite book?"

"Harry potter, duh. How do you take your coffee?"

"Loaded with sugar or black, it depends on my mood. How did your mom die?" Reid said, ready to up the ante.

"Well…" Ryan began "I don't remember her. I was three when she died. I never asked about her until I was about sixteen; all I had ever heard was that she was sick. She was EDNOS."  
"Eating disorder not otherwise specified…" Reid expanded

"Yeah. Her stomach gave out and burst after so many years of bingeing and purging, it was distended and contracted so many times that it just couldn't take anymore. She died on the bathroom floor of a McDonalds after a binge… I heard it was awful. My aunt told me that a lot of blood vessels in her eyes had burst from so much purging…She died in a pool of her own vomit. I hate how objective I am about it. I wish I could be sadder about it…she was my mother, but according to my father she would have chosen her eating disorder over me.”  
He paused.  
“ I've seen a few pictures of her, She looked really sick in all of them."  
Spencer was stricken by the story. He was expecting a one word answer, something along the lines of "Cancer" or "accident".  
"Spencer." He was snapped out of his thoughts. "My turn." Ryan chuckled.  
  
  
"Now I have a feeling I already know the answer to this question, but…" Ryan took a deep breath, trying not to laugh. "Are you a virgin?"  
Reid turned bright red. "Come on, you’ve gotta answer!" Ryan teased.  
  
  
"I don't know why we're playing this stupid game! We barely know each other and I am in no way comfortable answering questions like this. It was fine back when it was no big deal but I feel like this crosses the line a bit!" Reid complained.  
  
  
"Well you could have said no to playing the game at all, if your virginity is none of my business."  
  
  
“You're damn right that my virginity is none of your business."  
  
  
"Oh so you admit it. Ok you've answered my question, you're a virgin. We can stop playing this game now, if its offending you so much. You didn't have to be such a bitch about it. " Ryan placed his headphones over his ears and opened his laptop again.  
  
  
Reid went into the bathroom and changed into his pajama pants.   
  
There was no need for that. Ryan didn't have to be so caustic. He brushed his teeth and re-emerged into the bedroom, and after pulling back the covers and shutting the bedside lamp not caring if Ryan needed it on for anything, Spencer fell asleep facing away from the offensive Dr. Stanson, who was probably giggling like an online school girl to Garcia about the fact that Spencer had never been laid.


End file.
